About Us

For a century, Saint Peter's University Hospital has been serving the health care needs of central New Jersey. From its incorporation in 1908, Saint Peter's has grown to become a technologically-advanced, 478-bed teaching hospital, sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen, that provides a broad array of services to the community–from sophisticated care of premature babies to specialized geriatric medicine. Saint Peter's University Hospital is a member of the Saint Peter's Healthcare System along with the Saint Peter's Foundation and Saint Peter's Health and Management Services.

As a state-designated acute care children's hospital, Saint Peter's offers a full range of specialized pediatric health care services, including one of the most sophisticated maternity programs available, delivering approximately 6,100 newborns annually. As part of its hospital-wide renovation program launched in 2006, Saint Peter's opened a new single-bed maternity unit in February 2008, and renovations are currently under way for a second, single-bed maternity unit.

The Children's Hospital at Saint Peter's University Hospital operates one of the largest, most advanced neonatal intensive care units in the country as a state-designated Regional Perinatal Center. Through its affiliation with The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the CHOP Cardiac Center at Saint Peter's was established to provide highly specialized care close to home.

Specialty Services

Cardiac care for adults is also among Saint Peter's specialty services. Saint Peter's received approval from the State Department of Health and Human Services to provide emergency angioplasty for the treatment of heart attacks beginning January 2007. The hospital continued to enhance its cardiac services with the opening of a new cardiac catheterization lab in the Center for Ambulatory Resources in 2006 and a newly-constructed 31-bed Telemetry Unit in December 2006.

Other specialty services include the Diabetes Care and Control Center for adults and the Center for Diabetes Self Management and Education for children, the Health Center for Women, Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery for lung cancer and other minimally invasive surgeries, a full-service oncology program including an inpatient unit and outpatient radiation and infusion services, emergency services including a dedicated pediatric emergency department, and the Wound Care Center® and Hyperbaric Oxygen Services.

Saint Peter's also has the Dorothy B. Hersh Regional Child Protection Center, and For KEEPS program—Kids Embraced and Empowered through Psychological Services, which is an acute, partial hospitalization, short-term stay program for children, ages five through 15, who suffer from emotional and behavioral difficulties that affect their ability to function successfully in their classroom or home environments.

The hospital also provides a wide range of geriatric services through its Comprehensive Care Group at Monroe and the Adult Medical Center at Monroe in Monroe Township and the Margaret McLaughlin McCarrick Care Center in Somerset.

A Teaching Hospital

In support of Saint Peter's mission to provide quality medical education, the hospital is an academic affiliate of Drexel University College of Medicine, the largest private medical school in the nation and a leader in health science education and research. Saint Peter's also sponsors residency programs in internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology and pediatrics. In fact, Saint Peter's Internal Medicine Residency Program, launched in 2005, has been accredited for five years by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a unique achievement for a new program.

Saint Peter's brings the latest medical practices and highly skilled professionals to the bedside. The hospital employs 2,800 healthcare and support personnel, and more than 1,000 physicians and dentists have privileges at the facility. Saint Peter's dedicated staff treats more than 30,000 inpatients and more than 200,000 outpatients annually.

Saint Peter's is fully accredited by The Joint Commission and was the tenth hospital in the nation to be certified as a Magnet hospital for nursing excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. In 2006, Saint Peter's became only the seventh hospital in the country to receive Magnet redesignation three consecutive times. This same year, the hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU) earned the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. The award recognizes the nation's top critical (intensive) care units. Only 56 units in the country have received this prestigious award, and Saint Peter's is the fourth in New Jersey.

The hospital also received the 2005 Award for Nursing Certification Advocacy from the American Board of Nursing Specialties (ABNS). The award publicly recognizes individuals and organizations that advocate for or promote specialty nursing certification, which leads to quality patient care. Saint Peter's University Hospital has created a culture that believes in the value of specialty nursing certification for improving the quality of patient care.

Saint Peter's University Hospital was reaccredited by the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer as a Teaching Hospital Cancer Program, receiving three-year Accreditation with Commendation in 2006. Saint Peter's received no deficiencies in all required standards categories, thereby demonstrating its commitment to providing high quality, multidisciplinary cancer care. Additionally, the hospital received Commendation in six categories. Saint Peter's first received this gold-standard accreditation in 1985, making 2006 the hospital's 21st consecutive year of certification.

Cancer Institute of New Jersey Co-founder

Saint Peter's offers cancer care for both adults and children. The hospital was a co-founder of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) and is currently a CINJ Clinical Research Affiliate. Offering the most advanced technology, medications and surgical procedures available today, Saint Peter's comprehensive, full-service oncology program includes a new 24-single-bed oncology unit for adults that opened in March 2008.

The For KEEPS program at The Children's Hospital at Saint Peter's was granted ‘Deemed Status' by the Division of Mental Health Services, part of the New Jersey Department of Human Services. The three-year license is granted to mental health programs that have received accreditation by an accrediting body recognized by the State, such as the Joint Commission, and, via a comprehensive application process, have proved to be operating at the highest level of quality and competence.

Saint Peter's is recognized by the American Diabetes Association for its diabetes education programs.